SEATTLE – The University of Washington women’s tennis team continues its stretch of 10-straight home matches this weekend as it plays host to Portland on Saturday at Noon and Houston on Sunday at Noon.

The Huskies are undefeated at the Nordstrom Tennis Center this year and have a 7-1 record overall. In the latest ITA rankings, UW comes in at No. 40, up one spot from the previous week’s rankings while Houston, out of the American Athletic Conference, is currently ranked No. 64.

Scouting Portland: The Pilots are 1-1 on the year after opening with a 6-1 win over South Carolina-Upstate before falling 6-1 to No. 72 Oregon. The Pilots lineup features sophomore Maja Mladenovic who was a Preseason All-WCC selection and is undefeated so far on the season playing in the number one spot.

Scouting Houston: The Cougars entered the rankings for the first time this year on Feb. 11 after opening the season with a 5-1 record. Houston’s lineup features the reigning American Conference player of the week in Despoina Vogasari who has a combined singles and doubles record of 10-0. Vogasari is currently ranked 125th.

Here’s what head coach Jill Hultquist had to say heading into this weekend’s matches:

What are you expecting out of this weekend’s matches?Well, we’re playing Portland on Saturday and in the past we’ve always had good matches against them we have come out on top most of the years. This year they have a couple of good players in their number one and two spots so I think they’re a little stronger then they have been in the past. Houston is a dangerous team. They’ve got a second-year coach who has recruited some really strong players and they’ve just recently moved into the rankings. They’re going to be a tricky team for us to play. I think it’s going to be a really good match because I think we’ll match up well against them from one through six.

How much of an advantage is it to play in the Nordstrom Tennis Center?So far it’s been a great advantage for us to play at home especially with the great crowds that we get for home matches. Some of the team’s we’ve played this year have been outdoor teams so that has been an advantage for us playing indoors. Houston has an indoor facility so I think they’ll be more comfortable.

What are your thoughts on your singles lineup so far and will you be mixing it up at all?I usually do mix my lineups up and right now my one and two spots are very equal so I might switch them around here and there depending on the match. In our number three spot, Julija Lukac has been very consistent and is undefeated in that role. Overall, I am really pleased with our lineup right now and will take it match by match in terms of switching things around.

How have your doubles teams been performing this season?Well we started off a little slow but last year I prided myself on how much they improved and I can see them already getting better this year. I told the team this week that I’ve been really happy with our doubles. We’ve added a few more weapons to our doubles play in terms of what we can do with the ball and I’m hoping that will help us be a little stronger as we head into Pac-12 play.